The Latest: Senate leaders trade praise at Kentucky event

Updated 11:33 am, Monday, February 12, 2018

Senatorial courtesy was in full display when the Senate's top two leaders — Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer — shared the same stage in McConnell's Kentucky hometown.

Schumer — the Senate's top Democrat — presented his Republican counterpart with a bottle of Brooklyn-made bourbon during Monday's event in Louisville, which is home to some distilleries.

McConnell praised Schumer for his work ethic. And he joked his life as Senate majority leader would be much easier if Schumer had listened to his parents and become a corporate lawyer.

Schumer was in Kentucky as part of a speaking series hosted by the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville.

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Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer are usually trying to outscheme each other in Washington. On Monday, the Senate leaders will share the stage in what should be a much more polite setting in McConnell's Kentucky hometown.

Schumer is to give a speech at the University of Louisville — McConnell's alma mater. McConnell, a Republican and the Senate majority leader, is expected to introduce his Democratic counterpart from New York. Schumer's appearance is part of a speaking series sponsored by the university's McConnell Center.

The speech comes just days after the two Senate leaders helped broker a budget deal that bolstered spending on the military and domestic programs.

Through the years, the McConnell Center has invited prominent Republicans and Democrats to speak on campus.